(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a control line spool for an underwater vehicle that is integrated into the propulsor of the underwater vehicle to facilitate installation and replacement of the spool without necessitating drastic disassembly of the vehicle.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Underwater vehicles, such as certain underwater missiles, are customarily designed to perform specific functions. Ordinarily, underwater missiles, such as torpedoes, are launched from an underwater vessel, such as a submarine, having launch tubes within which the torpedoes are loaded immediately prior to the launching operation. When the torpedo is fired, it leaves the tube and follows a trajectory calculated to bring it into the proximity of its intended target. Underwater launching of a self-propelled torpedo is relatively simple, initial propulsion by water impulse being sufficient to easily clear the torpedo from the launching vessel.
As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,158,124 to Chevillon, a number of different forms of guidance apparatus are known by which a torpedo, once launched, may be caused to follow a variable path, such as varied in accordance with changes in position of an acquired target as a result of evasive maneuvers taken by the target in an attempt to elude the torpedo.
One proven form of guidance system for an underwater missile embodies a control line, one end of which is attached to the underwater missile, e.g., a torpedo, and the other end of which is located at the launching vessel's control station, with the intermediate length of the control line physically extending between the torpedo and launch vessel. In this control line guided torpedo concept, control signals are transmitted from the mother or launch vehicle to the torpedo through the control line to bring about variations in the position of one or more of its on board hydrodynamic control surfaces (e.g., fins), to steer the torpedo. The arrangement is such that a supply reel or spool is stored on board either the torpedo or the launch vessel, or partly on both, and the control line is payed out, i.e., unwound, from the spool(s) as the torpedo progresses through the water. As either or both the launch vehicle or torpedo move in the water the control line is freely payed out and lays substantially motionless in the water so that there is practically no strain thereon. The unreeling control line extending between the launch vessel and torpedo permits the transmittal thereover of command signals which serve to guide or redirect the torpedo to its target.
While the arrangement in which the control line trails the torpedo during its passage through the water has numerous advantages, a problem exists in the installation and replacement of the supply spool of control line located aboard the torpedo. This disadvantage has not heretofore been satisfactorily addressed and overcome.
Prior methods of replacing wire guidance spools located aboard the underwater vehicles require major disassembly of the structure of the underwater vehicles, such as a torpedo, to provide access to the control line spool to allow its removal and replacement with a fresh spool. In one implementation of this prior method, entire sections of the hull of the torpedo, which typically are bolted together, must be disassembled from one another to enable access to the control line spool such that it might be removed from the torpedo. The weight and size of these sections in this prior method, also require accommodating a large infrastructure to support the technique (e.g., cranes, dollies, load and handling, lash down strap, and so forth). It is highly undesirable to dedicate the very confined space offered by a typical submarine to warehouse such infrastructure. Thus, this prior method is very difficult to employ, from a practical standpoint. Also, the infrastructure is costly to develop and/or retrofit into existing vessels.
Particular variations of the prior technique are exemplified. by:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,158,124 to Chevillon discloses an apparatus for launching an underwater missile such as a torpedo from a surface vessel. A guidance wire is wound on a spool paid out from a sabot which detaches from a torpedo upon firing. Thus, the wire is unwound from its reel remotely from the torpedo.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,565,028 to Hancks et al. discloses a torpedo having a cable coiled on the exterior of a shroud. The shroud encircles the propellers which is articulated on a ball and socket joint to steer the torpedo, and to serve as a reel for carrying the long cable. Holddown fingers which keep the coiled cable in place, are scuttled a measured time after launch. This requires the torpedo to straighten the wire against hydrodynamic drag.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,618 to Gruber discloses a protective sheath arrangement for a control wire for a torpedo. The control wire is coiled on a spool carried in the torpedo tube. The arrangement comprises a sheath through which the control wire extends, the length of the sheath being less than the range of the torpedo and equal to the distance from the boat through which the control wire is to be protected. The sheath and the length of control wire surrounded thereby being in a coil prior to launching of the torpedo. One end of the sheath is secured to the torpedo tube, there being a rupturable connection for securing the outer end of the sheath to the torpedo. Consequently, the torpedo, after reaching the above-indicated distance from the boat, will tear itself free from the sheath. In this way, the control wire is protected during its run by the sheath at locations near the boat, where needed, while savings in space are realized by eliminating the sheath usage at farther removed locations of the control wire from the boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,619 to de Nobel et al. describes a wire-guided torpedo payout coil. The wire-guided torpedo coil apparatus is described as having a container having an exit opening, and a coil of insulated wire disposed within the container with a portion of the wire disposed within the container with a portion of the wire extending through said exit opening, and voids within the coil of wire are filled with a conductive adhesive. The adhesive provides desirable electrical conditions and does not unduly or nonuniformly restrain the wire as it is payed out from the torpedo. The payout apparatus is generally described as being mounted in the aft portion of the torpedo, without illustration or details provided on the mounting arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,078 to Clark describes a method and apparatus for controlling optical fiber payout from the inside of a wound package of optical fiber. A fiber optic bundle is wound for inside payout and is provided with a housing, with flanges, which maintains compressive force on the windings, and the payout of optical fiber is controlled by a substantially cylindrical mandrel placed in the interior of the inside payout spool. The mandrel supports a small-diameter tube through which the optical fiber pays and places drag on the optical fiber. The drag placed on the optical fiber passing through the small-diameter tube may be increased by slightly bending the tube. The combination of mandrel and small-diameter tube combine to hold the fiber coils in place and supply a certain amount of payout on the optical fiber. According to this teaching, the entire bundle or package may be carried, in a manner left undescribed in any detail, by a projectile or a traveling vehicle, or the package may be maintained at a ground station which may be a vehicle. Also, the end of the optical fiber that pays out through the outlet end of the package may be carried by a traveling vehicle, projectile, or missile, and the like.
None of the above address the problems of providing for guidance cable carried and protected by the torpedo, integrations with the propulsor system, replacement and servicing of the cable and spool without infrastructure.